Mock Draft 3.0: Charlotte Hornets add size, athleticism
Who will Charlotte value on draft night?
We’re just over two weeks away from the 2026 NBA Draft, and much has changed since my last Mock Draft installment: we’re fully in rumor season now, draft workouts have been ongoing for the past several weeks, and the deadline has passed for college returns.
While the top-4 has been mostly set for essentially the past month, basically every pick after that is up in the air.
I predicted all 30 first-round picks based on what I think teams will do:
1. Washington Wizards - AJ Dybantsa - W - BYU
Nothing has swayed me from the Wizards being locked in on AJ Dybantsa. It appears the NBA views him as the number one prospect, and Washington is one of the cleanest fits for him.
Dybantsa will provide immediate rim pressure for a team that should be very upgraded with the acquisitions of Anthony Davis and Trae Young. Dybantsa actually pairs very well with recent draft picks Tre Johnson and Alex Sarr.
2. Utah Jazz - Darryn Peterson - G - Kansas
The best fit in the entire lottery for Darryn Peterson is the Utah Jazz, so he was easily the biggest beneficiary of Utah getting the second overall pick in last month’s lottery. I think Utah is on track to be a playoff team in 2026-27, they have a really fun starting lineup of Keyonte George, Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson, and Walker Kessler.
That’s not even mentioning the bench that includes Ace Bailey, Brice Sensabaugh, and potentially Jusuf Nurkic returning.
3. Memphis Grizzlies - Cam Boozer - F - Duke
Another clean fit, Boozer will end this draft cycle as my personal number one player. His fit next to Zach Edey is a great one, and Memphis could use a playmaker and advantage creator like Boozer with the possible departure of Ja Morant.
This is a slam dunk pick for Memphis.
4. Chicago Bulls - Caleb Wilson - F - UNC
The Bulls lucked out, getting the last top-4 pick in a four-player draft. Their decision is essentially made for them, with Wilson being the final player remaining in the tier at the top.
The pairing of Wilson and Buzelis will be an interesting one, and the Bulls will certainly be interested in adding quality pieces to their back court this summer to make their group of young forwards’ lives easier.
5. Los Angeles Clippers - Mikel Brown - G - Louisville
I think Mikel Brown is the player that the Los Angeles Clippers will settle on. I think he has the best ceiling/floor ratio of any of the guards in the lottery, and he’s got a well-rounded offensive skill set that should continue to grow.
6. Brooklyn Nets - Nate Ament - F - Tennessee
I want to be very clear, I thought I would end up higher on Tennessee’s Nate Ament than almost anyone - I have him as a top-10 prospect. But the Nets are going to one-up me if they take him with the sixth overall pick.
There’s been a lot of smoke lately on Ament potentially going to Brooklyn, here, though.
I completely get the appeal, Ament is a tall, long forward with a ton of scoring ability.
7. Sacramento Kings - Darius Acuff - G - Arkansas
The Sacramento Kings have been tied to Darius Acuff since before the NBA season even ended. He’s a fun player that provides a safe offensive floor, even if there are going to be questions about whether Acuff can translate to a playoff basketball setting.
8. Atlanta Hawks - Keaton Wagler - G - Illinois
I think Keaton Wagler has the most ability of any of the guards in this tier of players to play either on- or off-ball. He’s got a ton of size, shooting, and playmaking ability, and I buy the level of craft at which he operates.
9. Dallas Mavericks - Brayden Burries - G/W - Arizona
I’ve long said that Yaxel Lendeborg could be in play for the Dallas Mavericks at No. 9 when reviewing Masai Ujiri’s draft history, but it appears Lendeborg could be going later than we originally anticipated.
Burries is a physical two-way wing that could pair well as a Cooper Flagg complement.
10. Milwaukee Bucks - Kingston Flemings - G - Houston
The Bucks should be in a position to take whichever top-10-projected guard falls to them. In this case, it’s Kingston Flemings, who kicks off a rebuild on a pretty barren Milwaukee Bucks roster.
11. Golden State Warriors - Aday Mara - B - Michigan
Aday Mara will go early, and the Warriors could use a player like him. He’s a big, long center that could theoretically change the math of how offenses attack the rim.
The Warriors, though, are also one of the few lottery teams I could see trading down from this pick to acquire more assets. They are coming off a season in which they saw major injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, while the team’s depth already wasn’t the best.
12. OKC Thunder - Yaxel Lendeborg - F - Michigan
I struggle in projecting what the OKC Thunder will do on draft night, but I do believe they will use both of their draft picks, especially since they likely have to move off of players like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins for salary purposes.
Lendeborg is an older prospect who, in theory, could replicate some of what the Thunder will lose in moving off of veteran salary.
13. Miami Heat - Labaron Philon - G - Alabama
I can’t quit Labaron Philon, and in tracking dozens of mock drafts over the past month, I keep coming back to his fit in Miami.
Philon is one of the best advantage creators in this draft class, something the Heat will need if they reshape their roster this offseason.
14. Charlotte Hornets - Cam Carr - W - Baylor
The Hornets have a variety of options with this pick. The two players I really gave consideration here were Cam Carr and Morez Johnson.
I went with Carr over Johnson for a few reasons:
There aren’t really any 2/3 wings that are worthy of being top-20 picks outside of Carr. For that reason, he almost certainly won’t be available with the 18th pick if you pass on him at 14. Carr specifically fits the rosters of each team picking 15-17.
The opposite is true with Johnson. There are a ton of bigs projected to go in this range of the draft, and if there are similar evaluations on Johnson vs Quaintance/Steinbach/Cenac, I think you could see a scenario in which Hornets GM Jeff Peterson plays a bit of game theory.
I also just straight-up think Carr fits the Hornets better than most people are letting on. Charlotte really wasn’t reliant on 2/3 wing Josh Green towards the end of last season, and could use his expiring money via trade. Carr fits the Hornets’ front office desire to add shooting, positional size, and athleticism. Remember how much Charlotte was rumored to be interested in VJ Edgecombe?
I do think Morez Johnson fits this Hornets team incredibly well. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlotte doubles up on front court players, but in this scenario, I have the team betting that they can still get a quality big just four picks later.
15. Chicago Bulls - Morez Johnson - B - Michigan
Morez Johnson is a lottery-quality big man that brings switchable and physical defense, play-finishing, and a growing jump shot. The Bulls likely roll out a starting front court of Wilson/Buzelis/Johnson in this scenario.
16. Memphis Grizzlies - Karim Lopez - W/F - INTL
I struggle to pin down the precise team fits for Karim Lopez, but Memphis could use some extra ball-handling on the wing. I could also see Ebuka Okorie being taken with this pick.
17. OKC Thunder - Allen Graves - F/B - Santa Clara
I continue to think Allen Graves will go higher than people expect. OKC could pick him with the expectation that he eventually becomes a Robert Covington-light.
18. Charlotte Hornets - Jayden Quaintance - B - Kentucky
Jayden Quaintance has potentially the widest draft range of any prospect projected to go in the first round. He could go top-10, or he could go in the 20s. It will all come down to how teams view his medical information.
I think Quaintance is, at his best, a game-changing defender that can block shots and stick with guards on the perimeter. He is the type of swing Charlotte could use at the center position, to grow behind Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner while providing value in certain matchups in year one, but growing from there.
19. Toronto Raptors - Hannes Steinbach - B - Washington
The Raptors could go in several different directions with this pick, but I think Steinbach makes a lot of sense for a team that is likely disappointed with their decision to re-sign Jakob Poeltl and could very well lose Sandro Mamukelashvili this offseason.
20. San Antonio Spurs - Isaiah Evans - W - Duke
I considered Koa Peat and Dailyn Swain, but Evans’ shooting is something the Spurs might value above the other wing/forward prospects in this range.
21. Detroit Pistons - Bennett Stirtz - G - Iowa
The Pistons could use another ball-handler and shooter on their team, and Stirtz is someone I could see making a high-end rotational impact from the jump.
22. Philadelphia 76ers - Koa Peat - F - Arizona
Peat pairs really well with the 76ers specifically. He’s a dirty work forward that has elite short-roll passing and some fun interior scoring stuff. He pairs really well with Joel Embiid.
23. Atlanta Hawks - Dailyn Swain - W/F - Texas
Swain feels like the archetype of wing that the Hawks value, though he will have to improve his off-ball shooting to return first-round value.
24. New York Knicks - Chris Cenac - B - Houston
Perhaps Cenac goes earlier than this, but the Knicks could snag him with this pick as a long-term Mitchell Robinson replacement, though Cenac is likely to be more of a project in his first few years.
25. Los Angeles Lakers - Tarris Reed - B - UConn
The Lakers could use any sort of talent in their center room, and Tarris Reed projects as a rotational big that can run the floor and provide some interior defense.
26. Denver Nuggets - Ebuka Okorie - G - Stanford
Ebuka Okorie is a really fun fit for a Denver Nuggets team that has a lot of floor spacing. He could attack off closeouts, provide some rim touches, and grow as a backup point guard behind Jamal Murray.
27. Boston Celtics - Henri Veesaar - B - UNC
There was a report from Marc Stein saying it was a virtual certainty that Nikola Vucevic would be moving on from Boston this summer. Veesaar gives some of the pick-and-pop ability that they wanted from that Vucevic acquisition.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves - Christian Anderson - G - Texas Tech
The Minnesota Timberwolves have needed real point guard play for years now, and Anderson is a unique talent that fits well next to Anthony Edwards. He’s a threat from 3-point range and was one of the best pick-and-roll playmakers in college basketball this past season.
29. Cleveland Cavaliers - Zuby Ejiofor - F - St. John’s
The Cavs don’t really have a ton of ways to improve their roster this offseason, but I bet Zuby Ejiofor returns first-round value if they select him. He’s a center that has some real switch ability defensively and could prove to shoot it well down the road.
30. Dallas Mavericks - Maleek Thomas - G/W - Arkansas
The Mavs already selected Brayden Burries in this exercise, but more shooting certainly can’t hurt Dallas.